Second HDD not accessible after XP Install

[gexamb]

Hey guys. I love this forum. I have a problem however.

I have 2 hard drives. One is my os installed hdd which is the C: drive 120gb. The second one is my storage hdd 300gb. They are both sata hdd's. I had to reformat my computer so i transferred all the data i needed from my first hdd to my second hdd so i can reformat my first hdd as that is the one with WinXP home. I reformatted the hdd. However i left the second hdd plugged in while i was reformatting but i never partitioned the second hdd and never configured anything on it. When it came up to the screen in the windows setup where i have to choose which hdd to install my os on, i chose my first drive C:. I noticed however that my second hdd showed a partition of 128gb. This was weird as when i first formatted my second hdd, it was 300gb. Now it shows 128 gb. I didnt pay any attention to it as I was not even reformatting that hdd.

So i formatted the first hdd. I go to my computer to open my second hdd and i get this message: Drive D: is not formatted. Would you like to format? I chose no as that would erase everything I have on it. I know my data is there but I cannot access it. I look in the disk management console and it show my first hard drive as healthy (system) NTFS with the correct capacity and free space. The second hdd shows as healthy (active) with only 128gb capacity and 128gb free space. This drive shows as RAW not even NTFS. Why would it be RAW? This is wrong.

Now i read somewhere that this 128 gb limitation might be due to the fact that i have to install either the SATA drivers or the Maxtor drivers for my hdd. The thing is i cant find my motherboard drivers and i downloaded the drivers off the internet and i dont know if they are the right ones. Im going insane. i need help you guys. I cant afford to lose my data.

I doubt that there is any physical damage to the hdd as it was working before perfectly and now is not after the reformat. It is only a year old. Please someone shed some light on this. Thanks.

This is a related thread, but no help: https://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?p=591912

 

[tipstir]

Download the system board ChipSet Drivers...
Also download their SATA/RAID Software for under Windows
But you have two different sizes for SATA and are you running any RAID

Remember that 300GB is more like 289GB, but if you're getting less did you install the HDD CD to reformat the disc correctly?

 

[gexamb]

I am not running raid. I cannot reformat the disk because all my inforamtion is stored on the disk. It is filled to the brim. I only have 1.49 gb of free space left when i checked it before i reformatted the first hard drive. The actual capacity is more like 297gb because there is not OS installed on it.

 

[tipstir]

I am not running raid. I cannot reformat the disk because all my inforamtion is stored on the disk. It is filled to the brim. I only have 1.49 gb of free space left when i checked it before i reformatted the first hard drive. The actual capacity is more like 297gb because there is not OS installed on it.

You mean no HDD format features... Okay then you got the Max out of that drive with a low level format then. Who makes the HDD, and did you update your BIOS?

 

[gexamb]

My bios has the latest official update, not beta. The HDD is made by Maxtor. I do not have the model # but i will get it when i get home.

What do u mean with a low level format?

 

[gexamb]

I have installed win xp sp2, the latest intel chipset drivers for my motherboard and is sill cannot open my D: drive. Can i get another hdd and copy the contents of my D: drive onto a new hdd? How can i do this and what software is needed? Please help, thank you.

 

[gexamb]

I dont know how but its a miracle.

I downloaded Seagates's File Recovery program and scanned my second hdd. Took a couple of hours just to scan but when it finished, I was looking at all my files in the Root folder of the HDD. I was so happy I didnt sleep until i recovered all of my files last night. So my next step is to buy a third larger HDD (something I always wanted to get and now i have the excuse) to recover all my files onto the new HDD. Then im gona wipe out my 300Gb 2nd HDD and reformat it as one big partition as it was before.

Im telling you guys this program is a blessing. It's called Seagate File Recovery, I think. Thank you for all your help guys.

 

[tipstir]

So you never use the Maxtor MaxBlaster CD but anyway Seagate not owns Maxtor so you're all set now..